A personal essay arguing that unnecessary complexity is one of software engineering's biggest problems, driven by ego and apathy rather than genuine need. The author advocates treating complexity like an allergen — avoiding it by default, questioning every abstraction, and framing code review feedback around outcomes rather than complaints. Apathy is identified as a key catalyst: LGTM reviews, rotting TODOs, and duct-tape fixes all signal that guardrails are down. True seniority is defined not by how much complexity you can build, but by how much you can keep out. When complexity is unavoidable (finance, distributed systems), the job is to contain and understand it, not flee from it.
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